- Fellow passenger records footage of dispute which starts when young woman refuses to give up her seat on crowded train
A young woman was threatened and pushed off her seat on a subway train in central China after she refused to offer it to an older male passenger.
The incident, which happened at around 6pm on Tuesday in Changsha, Hunan province, was filmed by another passenger, surnamed Jin, who provided the footage to the Xiaoxiang Morning Post.
In the footage, the man, wearing a yellow T-shirt and sunglasses, can be heard scolding the woman on the crowded train, which was about to depart from Nanhu Road station.
"It's fine if you ask me to give up the seat for you because you are old, but does the seat have a name?" the woman, surnamed Fang, can be heard asking.
"There is no name on it but I need to sit!" the man responded before pushing her off the seat and occupying it. He can then be seen waving his umbrella at her and saying "I will beat you to death".
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The Xiaoxiang Morning Post reported that the man was later restrained by other passengers when he tried to hit Fang, while accusing her of "unreasonable" behaviour.
"Who is 'unreasonable'? Don't you know women are uncomfortable on some days?" Fang replied, before calling a family member to tell them about the incident. As she made the phone call the man left the train.
At the end of the footage a woman next to Fang can be heard defending her with the words: "Offering a seat should be a voluntary choice!"
Fang was accompanied by Jin to a police station on Tuesday night where she reported the incident, which is under investigation. She told the Xiaoxiang Morning Post she had been reluctant to give up her seat because she had her period and was feeling unwell.
Disputes between young people and older passengers over seats on public transport are not uncommon in China. In July last year, a video of an elderly man in Chengdu forcing a boy off his seat went viral on Weibo, the Twitter-like Chinese social media platform.
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